Five new Hall of Fame inductees into the Berks County Football Coaches Association

Written by: David Mika on Sunday, May 1st, 2022. Follow David Mika on Twitter.

The Berks County Football Coaches Association will induct five new members into the Hall of Fame during its annual banquet Saturday, June 4, at Green Valley County Club.

The Class of 2022 includes Jason Esposito, Bruce Harbach, Bill Hess, Jack Prutzman, and Al Wolski.

Also, the Class of 2021, which includes Alex Austin, Kerry Collins, Chris Mayer, Rick Scalese, Matt Scornavacchi, Jake Slemmer, and Ross Tucker, will be recognized. The Hall of Fame banquet was not held last year due to the coronavirus pandemic. (There was no class selected in 2020, due to the pandemic.)

This is the 19th class of the BCFCA Hall of Fame.

With the addition of  12 new members, the Hall of Fame now includes 126 inductees: Coaches, players, officials, and special contributors.

The BCFCA Hall of Fame was inaugurated in 2003 with the induction of former Conrad Weiser head coach and current Wyomissing assistant coach Al Silveri.

The first full class, in 2004, included: Ollie Eyrich, Reading High; John Gurski, Wilson; Al Gursky, Gov. Mifflin; Ferdie Kuczala, Conrad Weiser; Ray Linn, West Reading, and Gov. Mifflin; Tommy Miller, Reading High; and Lenny Moore, Reading High.

Here are bios for the Class of 2022:

Jasen Esposito

Esposito was an all-league offensive lineman at Holy Name and Kutztown University, was twice signed by NFL teams, and has coached at Holy Name and Berks Catholic for the past 14 seasons.

He was a two-time All-Berks pick at both guard and defensive end for the Blue Jays. in 1997 and 1998.

He was a three-year starter at left offensive tackle at Kutztown University and earned All-PSAC first-team honors as a senior in 2002. He also saw time at guard as a freshman.

Esposito was signed as an undrafted free agent by the New England Patriots in 2003 and the Buffalo Bills in 2004 and played in NFL Europe for the Frankfurt Galaxy. He spent two seasons on the Bills practice squad, in 2004 and 2005.

He has been an assistant coach at Holy Name and Berks Catholic since 2008.

Esposito is vice president of Go Big Recruiting, a video submission service designed to help high school athletes gain exposure to college coaches.

Bruce Harbach

Harbach played quarterback at Wilson, was an assistant coach with the Bulldogs and several other Berks schools, and was head coach at Lancaster Catholic, where he won two PIAA championships and four District 3 titles.

In his 16 seasons at Lancaster Catholic Harbach’s teams went 141-63, won seven straight Lancaster-Lebanon League Section 3 titles, and recorded perfect regular seasons in 2005, 2006, 2010, and 2011. His 2011 team set a program record by winning 16 games.

He was named Section 3 Coach of the Year six times and PIAA Class AA Coach of the Year twice, following state championships in 2009 and 2011.

Harbach was a two-time All-Berks pick and went on to play at Slippery Rock and West Chester.

He has coached at West Chester University, Reading High, Albright College, and Conrad Weiser, among other schools.

He currently is a head football coach at Schuylkill Valley.

Bill Hess

Hess has been involved in every aspect of athletics at Holy Name and Berks Catholic, as a player, coach, and administrator, for 34 years.

He was the starting center on Holy Name’s 1987 Inter-County League championship team, which set the program record with 11 wins.

Hess served as president of the Berks Inter-County Football League and later as BCIAA football chairman.

He was athletic director at Holy Name and Berks Catholic from 2005 to 2021.

He has been an assistant football coach for 30 seasons. He also was head softball coach and assistant baseball coach. He founded the Blue and White Athletic Booster Club, the Holy Name Athletic Hall of Fame, the Central Catholic Hall of Fame, and the Berks Catholic Hall of Fame.

Hess, a graduate of Holy Name, Kutztown University, and Alvernia University, is currently the Head of School at Berks Catholic.

Jack Prutzman

Prutzman was one of the top linemen of his era and a team captain at Reading High, where he played from 1953 to 1955 when the Red Knights were part of the rugged Central Penn League.

He was named to the Reading Eagle’s All-Century team in 2000, and to the Eagle’s 1950’s All-Decade team.

Prutzman later was an assistant coach for the Red Knights for 11 seasons, from 1961 to 1971, working under four head coaches, including Andy Stopper, whom he played for at Reading, and for Bob DiPipi.

He went on to Ursinus, where he played football and wrestled.

He is a member of the Reading High Hall of Fame, the Berks Wrestling Hall of Fame, and the Ursinus College athletic Hall of Fame.

Prutzman taught health and physical education at Reading High.

Al Wolski

Wolksi was the head football coach at Reading High and State College High over a wide-ranging coaching career that included stints at the college level and several high schools over a four-decade span.

He coached the Red Knights for nine seasons, from 1995 to 2003, taking the program to new heights, including Lancaster-Lebanon League Section 1 titles in 1998, 2000, and 2003 and an appearance in the District 3 championship in 2003.

He went 65-28 at Reading and 159-81overall as a head coach.

After leaving Reading he had great success at State College, where his teams went 87-42 and won three Mid-Penn Conference Commonwealth titles from 2004 to 2014. He took the Little Lions to 10 postseason appearances and the PIAA championship game in 2009.

Wolski was a three-year starting lineman at Phoenixville and played at the University of South Carolina and West Chester State

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